Children will be taught how to spot extremist content and misinformation online under planned changes to the school curriculum, the education secretary said.
Bridget Phillipson said she was launching a review of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools to embed critical thinking across multiple subjects and arm children against “putrid conspiracy theories”.
One example may include pupils analysing newspaper articles in English lessons in a way that would help differentiate fabricated stories from true reporting.
In computer lessons, they could be taught how to spot fake news websites by their design, and maths lessons may include analysing statistics in context.
This is great, honestly.
If you go back to antiquity, education was about philosophy. It was about learning how to observe, and think critically, and see the world for what it is.
And then in modern times, education became about memorisation - learning facts and figures and how to do this and that. And that way of teaching and learning just doesn’t fit any longer with what our digital age has become.
In my opinion, we are heavily overdue for a revamp of what education should be, and what skills are most important to society in this post-truth world. Critical thinking is an important foundation to real knowledge that we don’t teach enough.
If you go back to antiquity, education was about philosophy.
Well, formal education was. I’m pretty sure ancient
GreeksAthenians still had to be taught to do things like follow instructions, and to read and write (If they were in a social class where literacy was even expected).Of course we should be doing a better job teaching students critical thinking skills, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking ancient Greek children all spent their days having deep conversations with Aristotle in a park. Plato is even on record against reading because he thought it interfered with students’ ability to memorize things!
basic media literacy is really needed, hopefully it doesn’t come with any political bias built in
All information has a bias, so teach that it all has a bias and ways to figure out the biases. Also include that we all have biases in everything we think.
that is probably the best way to go about it. I worry they’ll simplify or strip away too much nuance. But if done well this can be great initiative
It’s biases all the way down!
I think that’s pretty much impossible to achieve. One persons far-right content, is another’s “common sense”
hopefully it doesn’t come with any political bias built in
They would never do that! /s
Education is typically left leaning
Reality has a well-known left-wing bias.
That’s why the right’s only solution is to wage a war on reality.
Can they teach the adults as well?
ThEy WAnT TO FoRCe PEOpLE INTo REEEEEEdUCATion CAmps!!!
Can someone teach the boomer generation too? They are vastly more susceptible to believing anything they read online
Online literacy is really impacting boomers and elder gen x. Like QAnon or Covid Vaccines - some of them flip and just go psycho to the point it impacts their lives.
Maybe sanction the media outlets for pumping the hate and bullshit out, gbnews for example with all of the blatant racist bullshit they push.
The BBC also do it, but is generally state sanctioned and much more insidious, e.g. support for Israel, attacks on the left.
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I learned critical thinking and news analysis when I was in school. No wonder England is doing so poorly if their kids aren’t
I learned critical thinking and news analysis when I was in school.
It wasn’t part of the curriculum when I was in school, but our physics teacher went above and beyond to make sure we got some lessons in critical thinking and skeptical media consumption.
I have mixed feelings. The UK has an incredibly broad definition of extremism. Socialism and antifascism are considered extremist ideologies.
The justification is to stop people like the ones doing pogroms rn, but giving the state power will always be a double-edged sword, one where the edge that swings left is sharper.
Idk critical thinking skills might be good as long as it’s not politically backed to single out a specific ideology or propaganda source.
I don’t know about you, but I have a sinking feeling that a country organized on liberal principles will integrate liberalism into its education.
This already happens, most people that become socialists only do it by university age, I still think teaching kids to identify fake news is a good thing, maybe they radicalize even earlier thanks to that.
I know it already happens. I’m worried it will intensify.
I myself became a socialist late into middle school, but I recognize that I’m an edge case.
“Kids, when you see someone talk about the climate catastrophe or rebellion, report them immediately!”
I know this is a bit of a shitty take, but there just isn’t a fix for shitty information constantly streaming in. As long as we allow some insane people that think maximizing profit above anything else to own the means of communication, things are going to continue to get shittier.
Critical Thinking has been an established subject in many schools for a long time. My former GF did it in her last year as a mandatory subject.
The problem up until now is it has been mainly an A-Level subject and only really offered in Grammar schools.
I’m glad it’s being rolled out
Another data point. I was taught critical thinking, particularly as it pertains to news sources as part of GCSE English - in 1987 at a normal comprehensive school in a fairly deprived area. Maybe the problem is that you can lead a horse to water etc.
I don’t remember having the option as i was nearing the end of my education in the late noughties (also a comprehensive). Perhaps it was more prevalent before
Get them all some fine excerpts from ml comms
Correction. English children will be taught this. Education is a devolved matter in the UK so this will not apply to the other parts of the UK
Isn’t critical thinking taught everywhere?
Lol, no. How would shitheads get elected that way?
If that were the case, the world wouldn’t be as fucked up and run by morons as it is today. Unfortunately, a lack of critical thinking makes someone very easy to control and mislead, so not teaching critical thinking is very much in the interest of the ruling class to keep the populace subservient.
This is nothing new. I was taught about analysing bias etc in news sources during “citizenship” classes 20+ years ago. Before that, it was called PSHE if I remember correctly.
it seems like an updating , reanalysing and emphasising in the curriculum
“Extremist content” == “not wanting Palestinians to be dehumanized, dispossessed and murdered by Israel”
No, but studying “hasbara” would make for good practice.
I’m an oldish dude with fairly conservative liberal views and I think it’s absolutely essential that our children get taught this. The risk that this is Orwell’s 1984ish is minimal and the benefits far outweigh it.
